Music has charms to sooth a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak. - William Congreve

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Meet John Doe 1990

John Doe's debut.

I don't know what X fans might have thought, but I was, and am still enamored of this CD.

John Doe has a voice that always sounds like it might crack at any moment. But in a good way.

Let's Be Mad kicks things off high voltage, only to be out-done by A Matter Of Degrees. It's Only Love is a country-tinged weeper with a wry lyric. Doe's cover of John Hiatt's The Real One is killer, and Butch Hornsby's Knockin' Around is just Doe's finest moment. The rest is a mix of country-ish ballads, hard-ish rockers, and power ballads. And they are pretty darn good.

A crack ace band and decent recording round out the package. Doe really sings his heart out on good-to-great material. And it rocks a strangely unique, yet familiar mix of post-punk Americana country-rock.